Still Life
by macmoosie
Summary: When Marshall is assigned a new witness, he finds himself falling in love and breaking the rules of WitSec, endangering his job and endangering Jack's life.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own In Plain Sight, nor am I affiliated with USA Network in any way. I do own the original characters featured in this story and they are not to be used or mentioned anywhere without my permission.

**Author's Note:** In Plain Sight is my favorite show of all time and I thought it was about time a wrote a good fan fiction about it. So here's my favorite character, Marshall Mann falling in love with one of his witnesses, something I had planned for a long time. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**1/ Welcome to Witness Protection**

_Los Angeles, California  
Four Days Ago; 3:57am_

The warm, night air of Los Angeles was relaxing. Normally in cities, the night air is cold but tonight was enjoyable. A few cars drove down the street between intervals, but it wasn't a busy night…except for the party going on next door. The loud music interrupted what would have been a peaceful night, but it seemed like the only person on Jennings Avenue it annoyed was nineteen year old Jack Benson. Jack was generally misanthropic--in other words, he hated people. He hated people for their flaws, their ignorance, their stupidity, and their ill-mannered ways, but more often than not, the number one reason why he hated people was because of their inability to be considerate for those around them.

He finally had it. It was three minutes to four in the morning, and this was the sixth time he was disturbed from his sleep. He checked on his little brother and parents who were sound asleep, to his surprise. Heading to the living room, he picked up the phone and dialed the police. "Yes, I'd like to report a disturbance. There's a loud party going on at 416 Jennings Avenue. Yes that's right. Well, I'm guessing the parents are out of town or something, and the teens are throwing a party. Yes, thank you. Goodbye." Putting the phone down, he sighed with happiness. "Well, that settles that."

Jack ran a hand through his soft, dark brown hair and made his way to the front door to watch the police break up the party. Sure enough, two minutes later, a cruiser pulled up to the house where two police officers exited the car and pounded loudly on the door. After an altercation, one of the police officers went back to the cruiser to call for backup. Jack sat on the bench on the front porch and watched from the darkness. Suddenly, a single gunshot was heard, and people scattered in all directions. A man Jack recognized came out of the house with a gun and aimed at the second police officer, but a crowd of people swallowed him, allowing him to escape without being seen. He ran in the direction of Jack's house, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the shooter and confirm that he did in fact know him. When everyone took off, Jack ran to the police officer. "Officer, I know who the shooter is."

The police officer nodded and raced into the house. Jack leaned against the cruiser, nervous and shaking. He suddenly heard the officer's voice. "We have a man down, I need the ambulance right away. 416 Jennings Avenue, get here now!"

Jack sighed and turned around to look at his house, just in time to see his parents and little brother emerge from the front door. He had a lot of explaining to do.

--

_Present Day  
Albuquerque, New Mexico_

"So, you understand everything we've covered?" Mary Shannon asked, flipping to the last page of the Witness Protection manual.

Jack nodded. "Completely. Shouldn't be too much of a challenge."

"What do you mean?" Marshall asked.

"Well," he began, crossing his arms. "Don't get me wrong, I have friends. It's just that being misanthropic doesn't exactly allow you to tolerate them all. I'm only able to handle two of my friends because they know how not to aggravate me. The rest of them could go jump into the Grand Canyon for all I care. Shouldn't be too hard to make new friends here. It's just my family I'm worried about. I mean, I had to leave without giving them so much as an explanation or a goodbye for that matter. My mother's probably a nervous wreck right now, my father's probably scratching his head and my brother…my brother's probably fighting aliens on the Wii or something."

Mary laughed. "Well, I appreciate you, honestly. It's not often we get witnesses who actually understand the rules, follow them, and not throw temper tantrums when explained to them what they can and can't do. And they're usually about twenty years or so older than you."

"You're a very mature young man." Marshall added.

"Yeah, leave it to you to get all the good witnesses." Mary rolled her eyes and filed the document in the appropriate cabinet. "Well, I'll leave you two to get acquainted."

Marshall stood up. "Shall we go?"

"Go where?" Jack asked, his left eyebrow raised.

"You want to grab some lunch?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders and followed Marshall out of the building. Climbing into the passenger seat of his black GMC Denali, he buckled himself in and rolled down the window. Marshall started the car and lowered the volume of the stereo when his CD started playing. Jack smiled faintly. "You're a Meg and Dia fan?"

"Embarrassing, I know. I don't normally listen to alternative music, but they caught my attention."

"Not at all so. I think it's pretty cool. Not a lot of people like the same kind of music as me. Hip hop is all the rage these days. I can't stand it. That and rap. It makes me sick."

"Amazing. My exact thoughts--I mean, how is rapping about money, sex, and evading the police entertaining? And they play that on the radio where little kids could hear it."

"Tell me about it. Then people wonder why their kids are having sex before they're even old enough to wipe their asses, and then end up growing marijuana in the backyard."

Marshall smiled. "Never before have I met someone who shares my exact thoughts on things like this. Mary doesn't usually care."

Jack laughed. "Are you two together?"

"Me and Mary? No, she's engaged to someone else. I once had a thing for her, but it just didn't work out."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I don't normally give a crap about the lives of other people, but there's something interesting about you, Mary, and this whole thing that makes me feel differently. Maybe Witness Protection has it's many advantages other than starting fresh and moving to a new place."

Marshall smiled again. He examined Jack, discreetly. He was about five feet, ten inches--two inches shorter than Marshall. He had dark brown hair that was combed straight and spiked in the front. His dark green eyes sparkled in the sunlight, which made them look even better. Marshall still had a hard time believing he was nineteen years old. He acted twenty five, maybe even older.

"Marshall, aren't you hungry?" Jack asked, breaking the silence. It took Marshall a second to realize what he meant before he put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot.

Arriving at one of Marshall's favorite restaurants, they found a booth toward the back and occupied it. Upon ordering, Marshall excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Jack there to people-watch. Getting bored, he was about to mess with the salt and sugar shakers when he noticed Marshall's Blackberry cell phone sitting on the table. Looking toward the restrooms, he picked up the phone and began browsing through it. Nothing particularly of interest, so he found the games and attempted to beat Marshall's high score on pinball. He did in a matter of seconds.

Marshall returned and sat down, a puzzled look on his face. "Jack, what do you think you're doing?"

Jack smiled and showed him the screen. "I beat your score," he replied nonchalantly. He noticed Marshall's mixed emotions and laughed. "Dude, I didn't mess around with your phone or anything. I got bored and wondered if you had games on it."

Marshall exhaled and took his phone back. Forgetting his slight anger, he watched Jack twirl his spoon in his tea. When the food arrived, the two ate in silence until Jack cleared his throat. "So, do you always do this for your witnesses?"

"Sometimes. Only the ones I really like though."

"What about Mary?"

Marshall laughed. "I can't wait until you get to know her. What does she do with her witnesses, you ask? She drops them off at their home, tells them not to fuck up, and goes back to work."

"She must be quite the party guest."

"Mary's a good girl, she's just a tough nut to crack. You can't blame her--when you're raised in a dysfunctional family, it's pretty necessary to be who she now is. If she doesn't take a stab at responsibility, who else would have? Needless to say, she's been through a lot in her life."

"Like what?"

"Well for starters, her father left her when she was very young and barely keeps in touch. It's been hard for her to let go, but she finally has. She was kidnapped by a drug lord, and shot in the stomach by a Latin gang member. But she's a tough girl. She always prevails."

Jack nodded.

"Well, if you're finished, I'll show you your new home for all eternity."

"I'm going to be in Witness Protection for all eternity?"

Marshall laughed. "Well no, but you will be for awhile. Like Mary said in the debriefing, there's no guarantee of your safety once out of WitSec even after the criminal you testify against is in jail. He could always send someone after you, or come after you himself once he's free."

"Which reminds me, when is the trial again?"

"In two weeks."

Jack sighed. "Great."

On their way to Jack's new home, they had an interesting conversation on the decay of the minds of the youth due to rap music and violent video games. Marshall pulled into the driveway next to a dark blue 2002 Honda Civic. "Like your new car?"

"Holy shit," Jack laughed. "I love Civics! How did you know?"

"I didn't, but now I do."

It was a gorgeous single family home with a garage attached to the house. Around the back was a nice sized pool and a brilliant patio set complete with furniture. Jack followed Marshall inside, and exhaled when he saw the interior. When you first walk in, you're in the main hallway--an archway showing the living room to your right, and another showing the eat-in kitchen to your left. Down the hall, there were two doors--the one on the left leading down to the basement, the one on the right was the bathroom. Forward, there was a horizontal hallway. Furthest right was the door to the garage and before then was a door to the study. On the left - if you were standing in the middle of the second hallway - were two doors, the one on the right leading to the master bedroom, and the one on the left leading to the other bathroom.

Exploring each room in the house, Jack was more and more impressed. The basement was of great size, leaving him a lot of room to do with it what he pleased. The entire house was fully furnished to his liking--his bedroom with a king sized bed, and the living room with the latest gaming consoles and a large high definition television. The study had shelves upon shelves of books and the computer was of brilliant quality. "Marshall," Jack smiled, "It's like…you knew me completely."

Marshall smiled, "Well it looks like we made all the right decisions then. Glad you like it. I'll stop by now and again to check up on you. But it's best that you find employment right away--WitSec only helps pay the bills for so long until we cut you off. And you needn't worry about mortgage--it's entirely paid off."

"Thanks, this is incredible. You don't know how pleased I am."

"Well, it's good to hear that. See you soon."

Jack smiled and turned to the living room. He turned around again and went back to the hallway. "Wait, Marshall." He turned around and raised an eyebrow. "This is kind of random, but would you mind…hanging out with me for a bit? This isn't something I normally do, being misanthropic and all, but I'd like to get to know you."

Marshall looked at the clock. "Well I don't have much to do, so I suppose that'd be good."

Jack smiled and headed to the living room, Marshall following. The two sat on the couch and talked for hours and hours. Marshall finally looked up at the clock and realized the time. "How time flies, I've got to go. I'll stop by tomorrow for a visit. I'll call you before I come, make sure you're home."

"Okay, thanks again for everything."

"You're welcome. Oh, and I can't believe no one said it yet. Welcome to Witness Protection."

Jack smiled and watched Marshall pull out of the driveway. Closing the door, he leaned against it and exhaled. "I love Marshall Mann."

* * *

Well, Chapter One is finished. I very much enjoyed writing that, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Things are about to get more interesting in Chapter Two, so I hope you're up for it. Leave me a review telling me what you think!


End file.
